Blissfield football struggles in 2nd half vs. Hillsdale

Saturday

Nov 3, 2012 at 10:26 AMNov 3, 2012 at 10:34 AM

Hornets beat Royals 28-9 in Division 6 district final

By David GiffordDaily Telegram Special Writer

The Blissfield High School football team rolled into Baumgartner Stadium and took an early lead Friday against the Division 6 third-ranked Hillsdale Hornets. The Royals built a 9-0 halftime lead, but couldn’t sustain the momentum, nor could they stop the potent Hornet offense in the second half as Hillsdale won a district championship trophy with a 28-9 victory.

The Royals finished at 6-5, while the Hornets improved to 11-0.The Royals used their size advantage and a couple of key Hornet penalties to sustain drives, seize the time on the clock and keep the ball out of the lightening-quick Hornet backfield’s hands in the first half.“In the first half, we came ready to play and executed a really good scheme against their offense,” said Blissfield coach Ron Estes. “Plus, we executed on offense really well, and of course, they helped us a bit with a couple of penalties.”Blissfield took the opening kickoff, and began play at their own 14 -yard line with 11:54 on the clock. Playing out of an empty backfield to begin with, the Royals gained a first down. However, the Hornets stopped them to force a punt on the next set of downs, and then committed the first of two key penalties in the half as they ran into the Blissfield punter. A fourth-and-2 became a first down for the Royals with the five-yard miscue.The penalty seemed to energize the Royals as they pounded the ball down the field in small chunks. Blissfield gained a couple of key first downs along the way, first on a 13-yard pass from Luke Cassaubon to Tyler Watters on third-and-7, and then a first down run from Zech Bostick on a fourth-and-1.The drive stalled near the Hornet 10-yard line, and Blissfield settled for a 25-yard field goal from Tyler Watters, but the bigger picture was that the Royals took 8:46 off the clock and kept the ball away from the potent Hornet offense.With a 3-0 lead, Hillsdale started its first possession from their own 19. They swiftly showed why Blissfield would rather keep the ball out of their hands. Within a couple of plays, they were near midfield. The Hornets' Brandon McCullen ripped off another long run, but Hillsdale was flagged for holding and then fumbled the ball over to the Royals.Hillsdale tried some trickery later in the half, snapping the ball to the up-back, who then pitched it to a Andrew Wilcox, who was sprinting to his right. Wilcox rolled out and lofted a pass to an open receiver, but the ball was too far behind him to reel it in and the Royals took over near midfield.The Royals again drained the clock as they converted a couple of key fourth downs, before Bostick took it over the goal line from the 2-yard line, leaving a little over a minute and a half before halftime.Blissfield went into halftime leading 9-0 on the scoreboard and 17:27-6:33 in time of possession.Things changed quickly in the second half, and momentum swung the Hornets way, never to sway back.Hillsdale took the second half kickoff and ran it back near midfield. The Hornets switched to a hurry-up offense that wasn’t in such a hurry. It was more preventative in making the Royals line up defensively without many changes. Hillsdale would rush to the line after a play, and then wait for the coaches on the sideline to call a play.Led by quarterback Kenton McCosh and McCullen, the Hornets drove down the field and scored to make it a 9-7 game.“Not a lot changed in the second half except they kept the ball more,” said Estes. “We wanted to take the pitch away, and we did, but they made some nice adjustments to go inside more, and give them credit for it.”The adjustments worked. Four straight possessions by the Hornets wound up in the end zone. Meanwhile, Blissfield couldn’t get on track. The Royals didn’t get their initial first down of the second half until 3:03 was left in the game, and Hillsdale had built a 28-9 lead.The third touchdown by the Hornets was highlight-reel worthy. As McCosh lofted a pass into the end zone in search of Jimmy Chase’s hands, the ball found its target. But as Chase went to bring it in, the Blissfield defender tipped the ball out of his hands and behind Chase toward the back of the end zone. Chase twisted, dived and brought the ball in as he landed inches inside the end zone for the score.Time of possession in the second half nearly flipped with Blissfield only having the ball eight minutes, and three of those were on the very last drive.“This was a tremendous group of seniors to work with,” said Estes. “From the end of last year until now, this group put a ton of time in. They are tough, resilient, and the bottom line is that I’m very pleased to have worked with them.”